Nazri: No one is above the law – NST 12/5/2008

KUALA KANGSAR: The government does not practise double standards when it comes to taking action against anyone who makes seditious remarks against the Malay rulers.

Therefore, as in the case of Karpal Singh, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said, swift action must also be taken against Terengganu Umno secretary Datuk Rosol Wahid and 22 assemblymen, if they had behaved in a way which may be interpreted as seditious against the Sultan of Terengganu.

Rosol and the assemblymen had protested against the appointment of the menteri besar in March.

"I believe police reports have been made against Rosol and action must be taken.

"I do not care whether the person is an elected representative from the Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Rakyat.

"The law is the law. If you do something which is against the law, then action must be taken."

Asked if he knew the status of the investigation into Rosol and the 22 assemblymen, Nazri, an Umno supreme council member, said no.

However, no Umno member would be spared if he or she had committed a seditious act.

Nazri was commenting on alleged "double standards" which had "spared" the Terengganu Umno state assemblymen who had challenged the state's Regency Advisory Council's candidate for the post of menteri besar, while urging investigation into Karpal Singh, the DAP chairman, for questioning the powers of Perak Ruler Sultan Azlan Shah, be expedited.

In March, the 22 Terengganu assemblymen, led by Rosol, had declared that they supported the reappointment of Umno liaison chief Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh as the menteri besar, although the palace had picked Datuk Ahmad Said.

During the two-week saga, Rosol and the assemblymen not only handed over a letter of protest to the palace over Ahmad's appointment, but had also threatened to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of the new menteri besar.

The BN assemblymen's conduct was seen by many as tantamount to a seditious act against Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu.

"There are no double standards... I do not want to see any double standards employed in (sedition) cases," Nazri said at a religious function in Kampung Cheh Hulu in Kati here.

On Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Ba-dawi's call to Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail to expedite investigation into the case involving Karpal, Nazri said this was not an extraordinary statement.

"What the prime minister said was normal. Under the Federal Constitution, the power to prosecute lies in the hands of the A-G. He (Abdullah) merely requested that the investigation be speeded up."

Abdullah's call was in response to sentiments on the ground, he said.

Karpal had allegedly questioned the powers of the Sultan of Perak over the transfer of Datuk Jamry Sury, the head of the Perak Islamic Religious Department.

"The Malays are unhappy with Karpal. They are eagerly awaiting the A-G's decision on whether to charge him or not.

"That was the feedback. Based on that, the prime minister asked the A-G to expedite the investigation."

Nazri added that investigations into alleged acts of sedition were carried out quickly to deter others from making insensitive statements.